After several years of tremendous success, the ASU track and field team has seen some restocking of the cupboards with its roster.
The Sun Devils have 47 athletes in their first or second year of NCAA competition, including 30 freshmen and 20 true freshmen.
“On the women’s side, we had that stretch where we had eight straight top-five finishes in the NCAA,” ASU coach Greg Kraft said. “On the men’s side we had six straight top-10 finishes and last year we were fourth in the country at the outdoor meet. Then all of those kids were gone. We were very top heavy.”
With the successful older generation out, Kraft and his staff had to retool the team.
“We had to recycle it and got a great recruiting class,” Kraft said. “We knew we were taking our lumps, and we expected that.”
Though there are the growing pains, the holdover stars from the last generation are helping the young Sun Devils forward.
“We’ve had some great senior leadership from Jasmine Chaney,” Kraft said. “But it’s really been spearheaded by the young group we have.”
One of the bigger players in this youth group is taking the lumps for a better future.
“There’s a lot of young kids, but there’s a lot of talent too,” redshirt sophomore thrower Jordan Clarke said. “This is going to be more of a rebuilding year. Next year or in the next two years, we’ll be a lot deeper and better.”
Kraft knows that with all youth comes a learning process, but doesn’t let that sink to the athletes.
“No one checks your birth certificate at the championship meet,” Kraft said. “We as coaches have to be patient with them, but we also tell them to have a sense of urgency. We tell them to not use that youth as an excuse, because no one cares.”
Injury Report
At this point in a long season with a diverse range of events and athletes, the overall health of the team is always a concern and not always top notch.
“Out bodies aren’t timing very well some days,” Clarke said. “Some days are a bit more sluggish than others.”
Kraft is reasonable with his approach to the team’s health.
“You have 21 events and over 100 student-athletes,” Kraft said. “Somebody is hurt.”
The biggest somebody to be hurt this season has been sophomore jumper Constance Ezugha.
The returning All-American had a minor surgery to her patella tendon in January and will undergo a major surgery to that tendon on Friday.
“That’s a big hit,” Kraft said, “because on the first day of the Pac-10s is long jump. That was an event we thought we could do a bit of damage in.”
To avoid another hit to the roster, Kraft and his staff have to be in touch with every aspect of their athletes, know how to handle it and vice versa with athletes to coaches.
“They have to communicate with us, and us with them, and then with our trainers.” Kraft said. “You’ve also got to read their body language. And we always say that the tough team is the one that is going to win, so sometimes you have people covering up their injuries. At this point of the season, you err on the side of caution.”
This Weekend
ASU will host its signature track and field meet with the 32nd Sun Angel Classic this weekend.
High school athletes from all around Arizona will compete on Thursday and Saturday at Sun Angel Stadium with the NCAA competitions on Friday and Saturday.
Reach the reporter at zcavanag@asu.edu
